Continuing the Crosiére on Louis Majesty

Rhodes

Following day the 22 June,2011 after our visit to Patmos Island on the 21 June,2011, Louis Majesty sailed into Rhodes at 7 am.

Rhodes is a busy port being the largest of the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea. Apart from the mythological past Rhodes has a long rich history of invasions, cultural enrichment resulting from some of the invaders. A rich fertile soil that gave its fruits and wines. Its centre mostly uninhabited is forest of pines and cypresses. Its shores are rocky.

It was occupied in the 16^th century by the Minoans, followed by the Mycenaean Greeks in the 15^th century BC. In the 8^th century Dorians who settled in Rhodes built six cities and called it the Dorian Hexapolis. It also records a Phoenician presence. Then it was the Persians who invaded Rhodes. In 332 BC Alexander the Great chased away the Persians making it a part of the Macedonian Empire. It was followed by the Byzantine occupation, and subsequently occupied by the Muslims, and again recaptures by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius. In the 3^rd Century BC it came under the influence of Egypt and saw it vitalized in commerce, agriculture, arts and culture.

That is a part of the long history of Rhodes Island, which is today a tourist attraction. It is known for the statue Colossus of Rhodes representing Rhodian Sun God Heloise which toppled over in an earth quake in 224 BC.

Ruins of Rhodes are now in an unrecognizable condition though of the not so old parts of the ruins the Old Christian Baptistery has been renovated. The street of the knights show the majesty of ancient architecture.











 









We saw the entrance to the commercial area of old Rhodes where the Colossus of Rhodes stood. 

The  buildings on the old road on which the Knights rode on their horses are now a beautiful tourist attractions one of the buildings  is now occupied by the French Consul.


 

It was a pleasant walk in the crowded old roads now cramped with boutiques selling articles to thronging multitude of tourists, the town being not far away from the sea we could walk leisurely to our Louis Majesty awaiting in the Aegean port of Rhodes

 










Santorini

Santorini to which Louis Majesty sailed in at 4.30pm  of 23 June,2011, was to be its last stop before sailing to Piraeus, where we were to disembark the following morning.  An agitated sea received us at Santorini.  Though we had arranged to visit the city which is perched vertiginously  on the top of a  high  bank, the tender boat into which we were to embark to be taken to Santorini was tossing dangerously high and low and we thought of abandoning the visit in such an unwelcome sea which seemed to want the sacrifice of the two of us to calm its furious waves suffering  in the heat of the hot sun of Santorini. 

Therefore we were satisfied watching old city of Santorini from the safety of Louis Majesty’s upper deck while sipping a cold glass of fruit juice to cool ourselves, keeping away  the frustrating heat a bit ashamed of  our  fear of an un-tethered fury of a sea.  At least the Ship seemed calm.  

That was to be the last evening on the beautiful but noisy and crowded Louis Majesty.  We nevertheless enjoyed our stay on the Bateau from which we saw the vagrant ways of  the sea not different from the mental ways which rise and ebb like the calm waves in Rhodes and  those extremely perturbed in Santorini.  The boat was clean and sailing was calm and serene.

At the end of our Croisiere on board Louis Majesty, we went to the Hotel Thalasso MARE NOSTRUM where we spent a calm holiday.......